>I was at RHS back to school last night. The condition of many rooms is deplorable. Some of the hallways show signs of years of neglect – giving a ‘lick and a promise’ instead of actual care and/or remediation. When our schools actually had janitors, the ongoing maintenance was part of their job description. Now, many of the schools have maintenance crews performing janitorial tasks but little else. So much for saving pennies while wasting dollars.
Using students to hand out literature to shill for this bond referendum is abhorrent.
1:19am – the BOE learned that trick from our Congress.
22 new classrooms? They come with 22 teachers. Do the math.
50 new students per year for 10 years – ballooning our student population to over 6000? Where are all these new families coming from? Real estate sales figures tell a different tale. Families wanting to leave can’t easily sell their house without taking quite a hit (and in some cases, bringing $$ to the closing). With sales down, less people are moving IN to Ridgewood. After all, with folks fleeing the state, who can still afford to ‘buy up’ into Ridgewood and start a family. We are already maxed out in population, so numbers much above 25k aren’t likely. So, 500 new students in 10 years is somewhat inconceivable.
Hey, I have an idea – the radical that I am – instead of building on all these new classrooms, maybe we should take back Glen School (which we already own) and redistrict?? You can’t say that the paltry rents we are collecting can enable us to add 22 new classrooms in our other buildings…otherwise, why the bond? We bus and ENTIRE neighborhood across Rt 17 while passing 3 K-6 facilities (Glen, Travell & Somerville). Is there something wrong here? Given the cost of transportation costs alone, we’d experience some long-term value in reclaiming Glen (while helping their neighborhood intact). It’s time for all the ancillary programs to find new quarters so we enjoy the value and convenience of using OUR OWN SCHOOLS for our children.
Finally, I just love the lame-a$$ excuse the BOE is giving about bonding – if we don’t act now, we will lose nearly $10 million of state funding. What BS! WE STILL HAVE TO SPEND ANOTHER $40 MILLION. Nothing like peeing through another $40 mil while residents of this village are hurting during these recessionary times.
Bond only for what we need – nothing else. Develop better capital expenditure plans, because if you’ve allowed the regular maintenance and lack of roof repairs go for so long, then you have been derelict in your duty to serve the citizens of Ridgewood.
